We are family

"Have you ever been introduced to a couple and marvelled at how much they looked like brother and sister? Perhaps they had sought each other out precisely for that mirror-image effect. Or perhaps they were a cousin couple. It is estimated that 20 per cent of all couples in the world are cousins. Cousin coupling is not to be confused with incest, although the waters are muddy in many American states. For despite it being perfectly legal to marry your first cousin in Europe and Canada (and being positively encouraged in parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia), 30 US states forbid marriage between first cousins. Temperatures run high when the cousin debate rears its ugly head - erroneous information and bigotry fuel the fire."

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Last update: Sunday, December 8, 2002 at 1:01:08 PM.